Portales rallies past Clovis

CLOVIS — Clovis High's softball team was three outs away from pulling off a much-needed win.

After scoring five sixth-inning runs for a 6-5 lead over Portales on Saturday at Lady Wildcat Field, the Lady Rams responded run-scoring singles by Valerie Villanueva, Francis Armijo and Jasmin Vega in the top of the seventh for an 8-6 win in the teams' annual "Striking Out Cancer" game.

Four errors, three of which contributed to the Lady Cats' downfall, were key.

CMI staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis senior Taylor Marez pops one up in the infield during the second inning of Saturday's clash with Portales at Lady Wildcat Field.

"Young mistakes," said CHS coach Brandi Thomas, whose squad lost 13-3 at Portales on March 23 and endured its 11th consecutive loss on Saturday. "But we competed hard. That's the best effort I've seen in a couple of weeks."

Freshman pitcher A.J. Wright helped her own cause with a two-out, three-run triple to left-center to cap the sixth-inning comeback. Wright gave up 15 hits, but walked none and struck out none in keeping Clovis (3-14) in contention.

"One of these days we'll figure out how to get over the hump," Thomas said.

Sophomore catcher Simone Laurenz went 3-for-4 for the Lady Rams (10-1), coming off their first loss on Thursday in the second game of a doubleheader at West Las Vegas. Her sister, senior Kelsey Laurenz, threw a lot of pitches, but earned the win in the circle and also delivered a key two-run single in the third.

"We had a bad inning, but I was happy with how we responded," Kelsey Laurenz said. "We came in confident (after Thursday's loss). We just really wanted to win."

A wind howling almost straight in from center field knocked down a lot of fly balls, but players generally did a pretty good job of fielding balls blowing around in the stiff breeze.

Catcher Connie Medina's run-scoring single put the Lady Cats in front in the second, but two errors on one play opened the door for the Lady Rams in the third and Kelsey Laurenz lined her two-run single to give PHS a 3-1 lead.

That margin was extended to 5-1 before Clovis batted around in the sixth. Kyleigh Guthals doubled inside third to lead off and came home on a grounder by Bree Albright.

A Portales miscue helped keep the Lady Cats alive, and Clovis barely avoided running itself out of the inning a couple of times. Ashley Gallagher's RBI single made it 5-3 before Wright drove one up the left-center field alley to clear the bases and put Clovis ahead.

A one-out error in the seventh set Portales up with runners in scoring position before Villanueva and Armijo drove consecutive RBI singles into left. With two out, Vega's hit made it a two-run cushion.

Medina went 3-for-4 for the Lady Cats, who had nine hits.

CMI staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Portales sophomore Francis Armijo makes the throw to first in the bottom of the second inning for the third out against Clovis Saturday at Lady Wildcat Field. Portales scored three runs in the seventh to defeat Clovis 8-6 and improve to 10-1 on the season.

"I give credit to Clovis; they hit the ball well," PHS coach Robbie Crowley said. "It didn't seem like we were giving them anything.

"We came back and did what we needed to offensively. It seems like when we're not doing one thing (well), the other area picks us up."